Conventionally, document data including documents, graphics, or images edited by a text editing or image editing application program in a data processing apparatus such as a personal computer is printed out by a printer. In this case, a print execution command for print execution is transmitted from the data processing apparatus to the printer. Prior to this process, a print preview function is available in the data processing apparatus. According to the print preview function, display data for showing a print result is generated by analyzing the document data and a print setting, and the display data is displayed in advance. In a case where the print preview function is provided only by an application program, a print preview cannot be displayed with respect to document data generated by an application program that does not have a print preview function.
In view of this, a print preview function is provided by a system program that offers functions to an application program, thereby realizing a print preview that does not depend on functions of the application program. The system program is provided as a module of a printer driver, and has a function for outputting a content rendered by a rendering module of the printer driver or a rendering module (called a printing processor) of an operating system (OS) to a display unit as a print preview (refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-167721 and No. 2004-102618). In the following specification, such print preview function provided without depending on an application program will be referred to as a print preview or a print preview function. In a case where the print preview function provided by a system program needs to be distinguished from a print preview function of a specific application program, the print preview provided by the system program will be referred to as a general-purpose print preview function.
The aforementioned conventional general-purpose print preview is realized, for instance, in a printing procedure following a printing designation made by a user from an application program.
By virtue of utilizing the conventional print preview, a user can confirm a print result before document data generated by an application program is printed by a printer. To print data generated by an application program or the like, a user must correctly make print setting on a paper size and a paper type on which actual printing is to be performed, a paper-feed method and so forth, then execute printing.
Although, in general, a paper size can easily be set by an application program, a paper type and a paper-feed method cannot be set generally on a print setting screen provided by an application program despite the fact that the setting is frequently made. Instead, the setting on a paper type and a paper-feed method must be made by opening a user interface in a printing property of a printer driver from the application program. Therefore, there are often cases that a user executes printing before a correct setting is made.
Furthermore, during print preview displaying, there is no step of confirming the print-setting contents set by an application program. Even if the print-setting contents can be confirmed during print preview displaying, the print-setting contents cannot be changed. Therefore, if a user realizes an error in the print setting during the print preview displaying, the user has to terminate the print processing once, then correct the print setting, and execute printing again.
In view of the above situation, upon print preview displaying by the printer driver, there are demands for changing the print setting without terminating the print processing. However, in a case of a printer driver of a raster-scanning printer such as an inkjet printer or a host-base printer, image processing has already been performed to a certain degree at the time of print preview, and therefore, a print setting that can be set through a user interface of a printer driver cannot be changed arbitrarily.